Local Political Landscaape

by Pa Rock
Enthusiastic Voter

* * * * *   Election Dispatch #2   * * * * *

West Plains, Missouri, a community of about 12,000 individuals, is the largest town and county seat of Howell County, Missouri, which is about the center of the southern Missouri counties that share a border with Arkansas.  West Plains is the birthplace of actor and comedian Dick Van Dyke whose unwed mother was shipped here to stay with relatives until the birth of her eldest, and most famous, son.  It was also the home to country music legend Porter Wagoner, and major league baseball pitcher Preacher Roe.  

Politically West Plains and the surrounding area, both is Missouri and in Arkansas, are unashamedly Republican.

Today I took a drive around town during the noon hour to see what type of political activity was afoot, and to my surprise, there was very little going on.  I drove many streets and only saw two houses with yard signs - both for Trump - and I encountered just one pickup truck with a pair of large Trump flags waving from the truck's bed.   (I did pass two houses that were displaying Confederate flags on their front porches -  and made an educated guess that they probably belonged to Trump surrporters.).  I did not see any Biden signage, flags, or bumper stickers.

There was no activity at the County Clerk's office in the courthouse annex, and, in fact, the parking spaces directly in front of the office were vacant.  I circled through the parking lots of what I assumed were the two larges voting centers in town:  the library and the Civic Center.  There wasn't much activity at either location, and I didn't see anyone outside of either location who appeared to be there to bother voters.  I didn't see anyone who looked like unofficial poll watchers, armed or otherwise.  I also did not encounter any police or law enforcement types on my drive-about.

The election scene in West Plains was strangely quiet.   Some of that may have been because other than the presidential election, there was little else on the ballot to draw voters to the polls.  There are no Senate races in Missouri this year, and our GOP misanthrope congressman has an opponent, the same one he defeated two years ago - and in the interim he has not been seen carrying on with a dead woman or a live man - so it is a fairly safe bet that he will be re-elected - more's the pity on that.  Add to that the fact that several of the lesser GOP candidates are running unopposed, and that dampens the fire to get gussied up and go to the polls.

Also, there are plenty of old farts in this area - like me, for instance - who have probably already voted - like me.

I did phone the County Clerk's office yesterday to double-check that there had been no problems with my ballot - which I hand-delivered on September 24th.  I was informed - very sweetly - that all absentee ballots would be opened and tallied on Election Day.

Missouri does have an important measure on the ballot.  Two years ago our voters set up an independent commission to draw congressional boundaries.  Our GOP governor, a right-wing ideologue, and our GOP-dominated legislature are very unhappy about that and drafted a measure - Proposition 3 - that would essentially return that power to the legislature.  If you are voting in Missouri today, please read Prop 3 carefully and then vote against it.  

Power to the people!